Cosmos X
by The Soulless Author
Summary: When Summoner hopeful Yuna meets a mysterious individual she is drawn into his strange and dangerous world; her life will never be the same again. (Final Fantasy X set in DW AU)


The day began like any another. She aroused from her sleep and stifled a great big yawn from her mouth.

_"Another day begins,"_ she thought with an instinctive emotion of dread.

It was a natural response to waking up so early every morning. A small price to pay for training to become a Summoner.

She threw out the covers and changed into her attire for the day. During which time, an older young woman had stepped into her hut, her usual stoic demeanor expressed deeply. Her attire consisted of a low-cut dark-gray and black dress that displays her cleavage and two crossed belts on the upper part of each sleeve.

Her expression changed very little, having been quite used to the trainee Summoner bring up and about this early.

Ironically enough, one of her duties as a guardian was to ensure that her friend woke up on time every day.

Out of the corner of her eye, Yuna had taken notice for her guardian's presence.

"Good morning, Lulu," she greeted pleasantly with a small nod.

Lulu's lip curled up into a small smile, "And to you as well, Yuna."

And that was the only exchange the pair would have as Yuna continued to don her attire. It was quite natural, seeing as Lulu rarely conversed unless it was for important matters.

When she was done, she went over to pick up her staff that was lying against the wall next to her bed.

Looking back to Lulu, she smiled warmly and said, "Ready."

Nodding back with a short hum, Lulu stepped out of the hut. Yuna followed suit a second later.

From there she stepped out from her hut into the morning light that graced the village of Besaid Island.

The orange glow of the sun welcomed her with an aura of peaceful tranquility, and she breathed in the fresh air. People from the village had taken notice of her appearance and they all quickly gathered before her. As one, they all bowed before her in a gesture of respect, for you see that she was unlike any other person living on Besaid.

Nevertheless, it was never in the interest of Yuna, daughter of the late High Summoner Braska, to view herself as above the common folk. Like her father and those that came before her, she was fair and kind, gentle and caring towards others, and she would be willing to safeguard the world of Spira from the threat that was Sin.

As the hours ticked by, she went along with her usual routine. She would pray at the Temple, preach the love of Yevon to the villagers, and then finally continue her training of harnessing magic and the ability to summon aeons. Despite of the rigorous rules that surrounded every activity, Yuna never had any compliants about them.

She was quite content with things just the way they were. After all, she always wanted to do her best to become a full-fledged summoner like her father. But every now and then however, even she had to admit that she needed time alone to recuuperate her strength, and that was always granted to her once all her duties were complete for the day.

Under normal cirucumstances, she was supposed to be resting back at her hut, but under the noses of everybody else, there was one place she wanted to be at.

By that time, it was late in the evening, with the last rays of sunlight all but disappeared over the horizon. Darkness fell over the island, and the stars came out in full force, twinkling brightly high above in the sky.

Yuna marvelled at the sheer wonder of their presence as she trekked all the way up from the village towards the temple.

Just the way they blinked in their multitudes brought a pleasant smile to her face. Her mind went back to a small tale her father spoke about when she was still a little girl. It spoke about how each star represented another world, and an adventurer who went about exploring them.

It certainly sparked a sense of wonderment and excitement just thinking about it again. If those stars were truly worlds, then there must probably over millions, or even billions that reside way beyond Spira. It would prove far too much to take in all at once, but it never stopped Yuna from imagining.

"What would it be like to explore those stars...?" she muttered softly and whimsically to herself, "To see worlds that are so different from ours...?"

Eventually, she reached the entrance to the temple and slowly made her way within to the main area of worship.

Here, she was graced by the presence of the statues of Summoners that came before her. Those that had been a great part of Besaid's history were recognised the most, and one in particular she had a close bond with.

Her gaze softened into sadness as she slowly approached the statue that was carved in the image of her father.

Lord Braska as the Spirans called him.

For a brief moment, her mind flashed back to a more peaceful time. She could still recall those days when he had spent time playing with her, when Auron spoke of his bravery during his pilgrimage.

Oh how she had spent countless hours wanting to follow his footsteps, even as she mourned for him when he passed on.

Forcing herself to fight back the tears, she made a formal bow of respect before her father's statue.

If only he were still alive...

From there, her eyes gazed upon the entrance that would lead her into what years of training would prepare her for.

The Cloister of Trails was where she would begin the final exam, and if she could complete it, then she would be able to take on the challenge of bonding with an aeon.

Suddenly however, she heard a faint sound of clips and clops of rocks. And it wasn't coming from the pebbles dropping down from the ceiling, it was coming from right behind her.

Slowly, Yuna turned around... until she saw the tall statues coming to life.

Moving, with no one controlling them, of their own free will. Her eyes slowly widened in terror as she continued to witness this happening.

"W-What is..." she muttered fearfully.

The Summoner statues all trained their blank eyes on her, and they began to advanced slowly.

Terrified, Yuna slowly began backing away from them, her hands gripping at her staff tighter than before. Instincts were telling her to fight back, but Yuna was conflicted on the inside.

These statues were sacred and holy, and destroying them would be an act of defilement against the Summoners.

"Maybe I could cast a Stop spell?" she wondered in thought.

Hers could barely last five seconds, but she would take what she could get in this situation. Readying herself and lifting up her staff, Yuna opened her mouth to cast the spell.

She might have succeeded, if it weren't for a rocky hand covering her mouth from behind her.

Startled and surprised by this, she glanced behind her, and her heart sank at the statue who was holding her.

Braska, or rather the statue version of the man, pulled in his daughter close to its person, its other arm fastened tight onto Yuna's own.

As she continued staring into those blank eyes, Yuna attempted to wrest herself free from its grip. But the more she struggled, the more her mind started to lose its composure. Just staring at her statue captive brought back memories of the countless times she had enjoyed spending with her real father.

The way he hugged warmly, his laughs... his smiles...

Eventually her strength gave out and dreadness began to seep into her thoughts.

"This is the end..." she thought to herself with great resignation, "Maybe I'm not worthy of being a Summoner after all..."

She looked back to the approaching statues, especially the closest one as it reached out and clasped its hand around her neck.

Within a split-second, Yuna felt her windpipe constrict tightly, effectively cutting off her air intake. Her lungs slowly began to burn, pleading for its fuel supply of oxygen to function. A stifled whimper escaped from her lips out of instinct.

But even with her life at risk, Yuna did not fight back. Even with her magic, she knew she could not bear to use it against her attackers. Her devotion to Yevon was too strong to even dare desecrate relics such as the temple statues, and in her predicament, that was her biggest weakness.

As her vision began to blur and darken and her body and senses began to go numb, Yuna closed her tearful eyes and mumbled out, "F-Father... I'm... s-sorry..."

Her mind slowly began to drift off and slip into nothingness, her grip began to loosen on her staff...

All of a sudden, there came a loud war cry and a swoosh of a blade, and almost instantly the death grips holding her were gone.

In surprise, Yuna fell to the ground, one hand nursing her throat and coughed harshly.

"Stopza!" the same voice bellowed out and her eyes snapped open.

There was a slight breeze of powerful air that came over her person, which forced her back to the ground. As she regained her bearings, her eyes glanced up to the statues, two of them having one arm severed... and became surprised that they had ceased their movements. Almost as though they were frozen in place.

"Whew! That was too close for comfort!" the voice commented breathlessly; it sounded like a male.

Yuna glanced over to where it was coming from, where she noticed a teenage boy leaning on his knees out of apparent exhaustion, his right hand gripping a longsword terminating in a long hook with a shimmering blue, water-like blade.

Her eyebrows were raised at his outfit. It looked nothing like the any type of fashion in Spira. He wore the oddest looking black wool shirt she had ever seen with a hood resting behind his neck, dark blue jeans with patches of torn fabric all over, and black shoes with laces.

After a second or two he recovered quickly and caught sight of her.

"C'mon, on your feet! No time like the present!" he exclaimed hastily and raced over to her.

He reached down and unceremoniously hauled Yuna up by her arm.

Still in a daze from her near-death experience, Yuna could until only mumble out, "W-Wha... What... is..."

"Listen miss, I don't have time to explain all of this, but if you wanna live you'll do as I say, alright?" he told her seriously.

Not bothering to await a reply, he directed his free hand towards the ceiling at the entrance and fired a Firaga spell. The resulting explosion rocked Yuna off her feet and caused several large boulders to collapse down over the entrance, effectively sealing it.

The young Summoner could only look on in horror at the defilement of that part the temple as well as the fact that the only way out had been sealed off.

"But... what are you...?" she muttered out in confusion.

She did not manage to say more for the stranger had begun tugging her along towards the door on the other end of the area.

"Did you... just...?" Yuna attempted to question but the stranger looked at with a small glare.

"Please, I'm trying to work here," he ordered sternly and turned his attention back to the door.

With a flick of his dominant hand, his sword disappeared from its grasp.

He then reached into a pocket of his dark dungaree-type outfit he wears over his other clothes, fiddling around it for a moment as if he was fishing for something. Finally, he found what he was looking for and pulled it out from his pocket. A cyndrical object with a blue-tinted handle and a red top.

Pointing it at the door, the stranger activated it - the object gave out a buzzing sound that filled the quiet room.

After a few seconds, the door opened up, and Yuna stared on in astonished amazement. As far as she knew, nobody else would have been able to do so, save for a Summoner.

Seeing the way she was reacting made the stranger roll his eyes slightly.

"If you're done ogling, can we please be off?" he asked her with strained politeness.

Just then, the winds began to pick up again, and they both turned to see that the statues were slowly beginning to move again. His eyes went wide instantly, knowing that his spell was slowly wearing off.

"Inside!" he exclaimed in terror and grabbed her by her free hand.

He quickly pulled her into the Cloister of Trails just as the statues fully recovered. Pausing to look back at them, the stranger cheekily gave them a wide grin and a mock two-finger salute as they charged right at him. His strange device still in his hand, his pointed it at the door and buzzed it shut.

As the statues began pounding away from the other side, the stranger continued brisking down the hallway with Yuna in tow until they came across a platform. He dragged her as such a fast pace, the poor teen barely had time to marvel at the beautiful interior all around them. Once more, he used his device to activate it, and before Yuna knew it, the platform began to descend downwards like an elevator.

Relieved they were out of danger for the time being, the stranger whistled whimsically to himself.

"All in a day's work!" he commented giddily with an expert toss of his device up into the air.

He pocketed it back into his strap outfit before looking back to Yuna.

"Oh, I almost forgot you're here!" he remarked with a wide grin, although if Yuna had known him long enough, she would have noticed that it was a forced expression.

Meanwhile Yuna finally had enough time to recollect her thoughts, and her mind was still reeling from what happened back there.

"What happened back there?" she finally managed to ask coherently.

The stranger shrugged plainly, "I don't know. You tell me."

Yuna stared at him, apparently caught off-guard by this.

He rolled his eyes, "Come on! You had a point, right? Well get to it then!"

"U-Um... the temple statues... they came alive. Like some sort of magic spell controlling them."

The stranger nodded his head slowly and folded his arms, as though he was actually considering her speculation.

"Hmm... seems plausible. Good theory," he praised knowingly.

Yuna felt touched by his sincerity, "Um... thanks?"

"It's no magic spell."

That took the Summoner by surprise.

"T-Then what happened with them?" she asked softly, her voice ladened with worry and fear, "A-And why did you d-destroy the entrance?"

The platform finally came to a halt, and a long dark tunnel awaited the pair.

"You've definitely a lot of questions for a summoner," the stranger commented wryly as he led the way into the caverns.

Yuna had to speed walk just to catch up with his walking pace.

"Yes I do, especially when it comes to degrading a part of this temple," she replied back, a disapproving frown now etched on her features.

The stranger groaned aloud, as though her declaration sounded offensive.

"Please tell me you're not a Yevonite?" he whined dramatically and sarcastically.

Yuna glared at him, "Yes I am, sir. And as a witness to this act of violation, as a Summoner I must bring you to trial."

The stranger glanced over his shoulder to her, a look of unfazed amusement on his face.

"Oohhoohoohoo... I'm quaking in my shoes!" he exclaimed light-heartedly with a flair of drama and lifted up one of his black shoes for emphasis.

Yuna was taken aback by just how casual and blissfully ignorant this young man was to her supposed threat. And somehow... she was actually amused by his theatrics.

Forcing a breathless and humourless chuckle, she shook her head and commented, "You are something else, are you?"

The stranger winked at her, "You could say that."

From her, he turned his attention to the walls all around them.

"So you were wondering about the statues right?" he stated, his playful mood suddenly dark and serious again, "Well, it just so happens that they were carved from rock that fell from the stars millions of years ago. And unlike the others of its element, it has a living sentience."

Yuna blinked at this, "Meaning...?"

"The rock is alive. Breathing. Thinking. Just like you and me."

"That sounds really ridiculous."

The stranger shot her a look of disbelief, "You call living rocks ridiculous when you can use magic?"

"That's not the same thing," Yuna tried to argue back.

"It IS the same thing!"

Annoyance and frustration were beginning to creep onto Yuna's face and she let out a huff.

This pointless argument was going absolutely nowhere.

Every time she stated logic, he would counter it with his own logic. How was he even able to keep it up? At this point she just did not know what to think about it anymore.

"So what are we going to do about it?" she asked him.

The stranger scoffed slightly at this, "There's no we in this, Miss Summoner. You are going to go back home and pretend this whole conversation never happened."

"And what about you?"

"Must I state the obvious too? I'm gonna make sure those rocky busts never ever threaten your village!" the stranger snapped back before proceeding to mumble some incoherant words to himself.

Yuna fell silent as she continued to study this man's odd behaviour. Apparently he seemed to be suffering from some sort of mood swing disorder. One moment he was delightfully joyful and ecstatic, and the next he becomes a grouch.

"He's definitely something else indeed..." she thought to herself with curious wonder.

Eventually, they reached a point of the tunnel where the passage veered off to the left.

But that was when the stranger came to a halt. Yuna squeaked out in surprise as she almost bumped into him from behind. Grumbling under her breath, she opened her mouth to scold him, but he beaten her to it.

"If my gut instinct is right..." he muttered to himself, "We should be just near the shoreline..."

Lifting up his palm once more, he blasted a Thundaga spell right at a section of the wall, which exploded outwards into a millions tons of rocks.

Yuna cried out in fright and out of sheer instinct, she hugged onto the stranger tightly for support.

As soon as the dust and smoke cleared, they could make out what appeared to be a beach, as well as a couple of waves that cascaded softly against the shoreline, as well as the sea that twinked under the light of the moon. The stranger peered out into the night and took a deep gulp of fresh air.

"Ah... can you smell that sea breeze...?" he gasped softly, like the air was calming his nerves, "It really does wonders for the senses."

Yuna was about to respond, but that was when she heard some noises coming from behind. Both she and the stranger spun around to see the temple statues metamorphisising out from the ground. Literally.

But the process was slow so at the moment they were simply viewing a mixture of earth and disfigured bodies.

"Well... took 'em long enough to figure that out," the stranger commented.

Yuna glanced to him in confusion, "Figure what out?"

"Their structures are made out of elements that are typically found in igneous rocks," the stranger explained casually, "This entire island is metamorphic, which makes it quite hard for these buggers to swim through. But oh ho, they're learning quickly!"

As the statues took on more distinguishable shapes, the stranger dragged Yuna over to the opening.

"And that's enough adventuring for you, Miss Summoner!" he exclaimed as he pushed her out onto the beach.

Yuna stumbled a bit from the force, she quickly recovered and turned back towards him.

"Wait! I-" she tried to protest but the stranger cut her off.

"Remember what I said just now. Speak about this and you'll get people killed," he told her warningly with a harsh glare before he summoned back his sword and conjured up a fireball in his other hand.

He raised it up to the ceiling and prepared to fire, and then he paused. He lowered his arm and gazed back at Yuna, acting as if he suddenly remembered something.

"Name's Tidus by the way," he introduced himself concisely, "What's yours?"

Yuna stared at him blankly and mumbled out, "Yuna."

A wide, happy grin was spread across his face and he greeted, "A pleasure, Yuna."

His mood turned desperate and serious, "Run for your life!"

Just as the statue creatures began to pounce at him, Tidus shot the fireball right at the ceiling again.

Large boulders came tumbling down over the entrance, effectively sealing away the teen as well as the statues, and leaving Yuna alone on the outside.

At first she remained rooted to the sandy ground, uncertain as to what she was now supposed to do.

Should she stay and help the stranger named Tidus fight off the statues?

Well, in all technicality, she _had_ abandoned him to fend for himself, but then again he DID want her to be safe. She still had her staff as well as her magic, so maybe the extra hand could shift the tide in the stranger's favour.

But that was when her memory flashed back again, to when her life almost ended at the hands of those statues. Her bravedo faltered quickly at the recollection, and the rational part of her mind began speaking to her. She knew that she was not ready to fight off something that she did not understand.

With much reluctance and fear, she turned and began racing away from the beach.

The comfort of home and friends never felt so strong.

As she passed through the forest that separated her and the village, if she had stopped for a moment to take a look around at her surroundings, she would have noticed a diamond-shaped object floating close by, its crystalline skin emitting a light-blue aura.

* * *

"Yuna! Yuna, wake up!" was the first thing she heard as she was abruptly aroused from slumber.

Her eyes shot open quickly as her mind returned back to the land of reality.

And then there was a sudden pull of her shoulders as she hauled out of her bed, and she cried out in surprise.

"Get changed, now!" Lulu ordered her sternly and she practically shoved the teen's garments into her arms.

Disoriented by what was going on, Yuna could only mumble out, "W-What is..."

"Something has happened at the temple!" Lulu informed her briefly, "Just put your robes on! We need to make haste!"

And with that, her guardian marched right out of the hut, where Yuna could make out what appeared to be the villagers screaming.

Her heart started to race inside her chest, and a soft, raspy breath escaped her throat. At first she was confused as to what was going on, but then her memories of the previous night returned to her.

She paled considerably.

"Oh Yevon..." she gasped in anxiousness before she quickly slid on her robes and grabbed her staff.

With a steely breath, she stepped out of her hut, where she was greeted by a crowd of villagers that were crying out to her, fear and worry evident on their faces.

"Lady Yuna! At long last you're awake!"

"Please, help us!"

"The temple has been desecrated!"

"The statues have disappeared!"

"The entrance had caved in!"

The more she listened to their pleas, the more a pit of dread began to form in her stomach. And her thoughts went back to that mysterious boy that she encountered. Tidus was it?

"Looks like there's a mess to sort out..." she thought to herself mirthlessly.

A second later, Lulu emerged from the crowd and gestured for Yuna to come quickly. The pair pushed their way through the throng of villagers, many of them pouncing at the chance to pull and tug at Yuna's arms and robes to get her attention.

In no time at all the Summoner felt very exposed and vulnerable. She just wished that she could be out of this quickly, which she eventually did once Besaid's blitzball team, captained by Lulu's fiancé, arrived to help disperse the crowd.

"Brothers and sisters of Besaid, please clear the area immediately!" one of the players proclaimed to the masses in a strong professional tone, "We do not wish to aggravate the Summoner during this period!"

As the crowd continued to be herded away, the burly captain quickly brisked his way over to Yuna and Lulu.

"Lady Yuna. Lulu." he greeted them with a short bow.

Nodding back her acknowledgement, Lulu asked sternly, "Any news on the statues' whereabouts, Wakka?"

"'Fraid not. Whoever's managed to seal off the entrance and grab 'em in a single sweep must've been great at stealth," Wakka responded back with a plain shrug, "That or the night watch were sleepin' on the job again."

Stroking her chin in consideration of this news, Lulu then turned her attention over to Yuna.

"What do you think, Lady Yuna?" she inquired, "Who do you believe caused this travesty?"

Yuna opened her mouth to respond, but then she hesitated. In her state of nervousness, she recalled Tidus' warning.

"Remember what I said just now. Speak about this and you'll get people killed."

Drawing on a shaky breath, she slowly spoke up, "I... can't really say for sure... Maybe a closer inspection might provide some hidden clues."

Wakka nodded his head, "Good idea, Lady Yuna."

Lulu however stared at her with a hint of suspicion and doubt, but eventually she too chose to let it slip by.

The trio continued on their brisked pace until they finally arrived at the ruins of the temple.

Here, they were greeted by the sight of debris and rubble laying all over the main area of the worship sanctuary, as well as the fact that the statues were all gone.

Up ahead, there were a handful of others that had arrived before them. Compared to the rest of the villagers, they were much older, and were donning ceremonial robes like Yuna.

One of them took notice of their arrival, and gestured for his brethren to turn and acknowledge them, especially one in particular.

"Lady Yuna!" they all greeted her in chorus and bowed their heads.

Yuna bowed back with a warm smile.

Lulu took a step forth and questioned, "Elders of Besaid, what do you make of the scope of the damage?"

The Elders all exchanged nervous and hesitant glances.

"We cannot really say for certain," one of them spoke up, her tone weary and slightly soft, "For all that we know, this intruder must have had great intention to destroy it."

She then gestured to the pair of stone arms on the ground. Yuna vaguely recognised them as the ones that nearly cost her her life.

"And the Cloister of Trails?" Wakka asked worriedly.

"Broken into!" another Elder cried out, "The gears to the door have been tampered with!"

And no one could deny him of that, considering that he consistently checked on the temple security systems on a daily basis, not to mention he had a photographic memory.

From there, things became quite chaotic.

Within seconds, every Elder in the room began to cry out and voice their fears and worries.

"Our temple has been defiled!"

"It's a sign from Yevon! A bad omen is upon us!"

"Could the Al Bhed have done this?!"

"Sin is coming for us first!"

Yup, the same old routine.

Deciding that panic would not get them anywhere, Yuna took a step forward and chanted a tranquility spell. As she spoke the last word, she outstretched her palm and a burst of white mist shot forth towards the Elders.

As it passed harmlessly through their chests and into their hearts and minds, the group gradually all ceased their divided shouts and all breathed out in relief, as they felt the white magic tamper their anxieties and harrowed thoughts.

As soon as everything and everyone was calm, Yuna spoke up, "Waiting for matters to worsen is not the answer. Until we can discover this mysterious perpetrator, finding the statues should be our top priority."

Turning to the second Elder that spoke up earlier, she asked, "The gears to the Cloister of Trails have been tampered with, correct?"

The Elder nodded his bald head.

"Then might I suggest a thorough investigation of those tunnels as well? Aside from the possibility of the statues being taken there, it may also be a good chance to analyse the full scope of the damage."

"But the sacred scrolls state that no one is allowed to set foot inside it unless it is for the initiation of the next Summoner!" the second Elder protested, "And only a Summoner such as yourself can open the entrance to the Trails!"

Yuna frowned slightly, "That maybe, but I'm afraid we do not have time to argue about traditions. If our thief is still somewhere on Besaid, then we have to find him quickly and bring him to trial. And besides, if the gears have been tampered with, then technically it should be easy for you to open it, no?"

The second Elder was about open his mouth and respond, but then his mind allowed for her reasoning and logic to set in. He closed his mouth and relaxed his tense shoulders, realising that the young Summoner had a good point.

"By your word then, Lady Yuna," the first Elder responded with a slow nod, "But you do realise that until this intruder has been caught, the temple as well as the Cloister of Trials will be closed off for the time being, yes? And that means that your examination will be postponed indefinitely."

Yuna held back a soft hitch of breath, but her heart sunk a little in her chest. She never fully considered that consequence of her action until now, but she brushed it aside for now.

She was far more concerned about the state of the temple, the statues, as well as a certain "stranger" she met last night.

Nodding her head in understanding, she replied back, "I do. But Summoner or not, the people come first. I will not allow such criminal acts to unbalance our time of peace and harmony."

There was a momentary silence in the room, as everyone all stared at Yuna who had a determined look and a compassionate smile.

The Elder woman chuckled softly to herself in admiration.

"Spoken like a true Summoner," she commended knowingly, "Your father would've be proud by how much you've grown."

Her sentiment was echoed by her other brothers and sisters as they all bowed before her once more before setting off from the temple.

Yuna's spirit brightened slightly at the mention of her own father. Oh how she wished he was still alive to see her taking on this rite of passage...

But enough dawdling on the past, there was much work to be done.

Turning around to share nods with Lulu and Wakka, they all headed out back into the village.

Little did everyone know was that the pair of arms on the ground earlier had seemed to vanish as well...

A few hours passed by in the village with little to no change in activity. Although most of the men, including Wakka, had gone off to hunt down the intruder, the remaining ones, alongside the women and children, continued to go along with their daily lives. And once in a while, they would also go up to Yuna who was walking around, asking her if everything would be alright.

And as usual, the teen's usual response was that they need not worry too much, as long as they continued to follow Yevon's teachings. Yet unbeknownst to them all, Yuna had done a really great job of keeping her troubled thoughts buried at the back of her mind, especially since she was ironically the only one who knew the true bearings of the supposed incident.

Eventually, she felt partially fatigued by the events of the day, and so had chosen to excuse herself back to her hut. Lulu had wanted to accompany her, until she gave her guardian instructions to keep an eye out for the intruder as well as the search party.

It was then that she noticed the wary eyes that Lulu was giving her, which made her want to retreat even quicker back to her safe refuge.

After a few minutes of hiking up a small hill overlooking the village, she came to a stop just outside of her hut.

From there, she casted a gaze back to the village, and to its inhabitants. Slowly, she allowed her thoughts to resurface in her mind, and she breathed out a heavy sigh.

She could not believe it, it only took one attack by those statues to change her life forever. And it took an encounter with that odd stranger just to put her in a tighter spot than she been in her entire life. But last night was last night, and now was now. Maybe the stranger had already left, and the search party would find nothing except the destroyed statues in the tunnels. And once they realise that he may have already gone, maybe they would just let things be and focus on rebuilding for her examination, and then everything will go back to normal.

Yuna sighed deeply and she shook her head in sadness.

Why was she thinking about that positive side?

It was obvious things would never be the same again. Once she had bonded with her first summon, that was where her pilgrimage. She would have to leave Besaid and travel to distant lands to obtain more aeons until she can finally confront Sin, and then finally-

_"CRASH!"_

Yuna jumped with a startled look as she turned around in the direction of the noise.

She paled slightly when she realised it was coming from inside her hut.

With her staff at the ready in her hands, the Summoner slowly and carefully tip-toed her way over to the front drapes.

With an index finger, she cautiously peered open the curtains a little, and almost immediately she could hear a voice inside.

A familiar male voice that was grunting and grumbling inaudible things to himself.

A feeling of dread crept into her soul, and she shook her head in disbelief.

"Why? Why here?" she mumbled to herself in agitation.

As if his little stunt in the temple wasn't enough to send her over the edge!

Steeling whatever little courage she had, she pried open the curtains and stepped inside.

She was greeted by a mess of her interior, a very big mess.

Her bed sheets had been pulled out, tables were overturned and chairs and other accessories were littered all over the place.

It was like a warzone - no a massacre!

Mortified by this, Yuna then spotted a smidge of yellow sticking out from behind her bed.

Frowning angrily by his appearance, she made a loud and forced coughing sound, in order to get his attention.

What she did not expect next was him hopping out, point his blade at her and cry out, "Stopza!"

Yuna's eyes widened, or rather her eyelids tried to, until her body froze completely on the spot, just like a statue.

Gasping for breath out of shock of her sudden arrival, Tidus lowered his sword and placed a hand to his chest.

"Oh for the love of Shiva..." he muttered under his breath with relief once he recognised who she was, "It's just you."

Willing his sword away, he walked right up to Yuna, now with a more bewildered stare.

"Still, I guess it's a funny small world, having to meet each other again eh?" he commented with a grin.

He was met with silence, which made his brows furrow.

"Um... hello? Anyone home?" he asked her confusingly.

Still there was no response.

"What's up with you now all of a sudden? It was almost as though you're froze-oh... Right... my bad," he mumbled to himself with a sheepish rub of his neck.

He looked all around the hut, and the mess that he had made for the past fifteen minutes. He had scoured every corner, every nook and cranny, but no luck in finding what he was looking for. Either his precious pen was malfunctioning on him, or he was just getting too rusty for his profession.

Either way, he couldn't leave this place unkempt in case someone was to show up.

Never leave any signs of your presence when on recon.

Swiftly, he began tidying up the entire area, and it really helped to have a supreme photographic memory, especially for a brawny body.

As soon as he was done, Tidus took a peek outside the covers to make sure that no one else was heading up the hill, before he grabbed the still-frozen Yuna and hauled her over his shoulder like heavy baggage.

He quickly exited the hut and swiftly turned to his left.

_"Thump!"_

Tidus winced, accidentally bumping Yuna's skull against a wooden post.

"Ooh sorry!" he apologised profusely before mumbling embrassingly to himself, "She's gonna feel that in the morning..."

Readjusting himself, Tidus quickly brisked his way around the hut and trekked his way down the other side of the hill.

Thankfully, this end was less steep so he had little trouble arriving at the bottom.

From there, he began traversing his way through the wet marshlands, his shoes and legs all soaking wet from the knee-high water level.

Grimacing at the dirty algae murk that soaked him, Tidus grumbled to himself, "Note to self: buy really tall boots."

Not that he didn't enjoy the water. In fact he had taken a liking to swimming. But dirty murk was where he drew the line.

After about another thirty slowed paces, he emerged out the other end of the wetlands and proceeded into the forest. Should be just around the corner somewhere...

That was when he heard a loud gasp coming from Yuna.

Glancing to her and her shocked expression, he grinned widely and commented, "Ah! Looks like the spell's worn off!"

Yuna blinked once, then twice, and then surveyed her current surroundings.

"W-Where is... ?" she mumbled quietly in growing terror and confusion.

The last thing she remembered was entering her tent...

And then she looked down to Tidus and then at the way he was carrying her.

Realising what was going on, she started squirming wildly in his grip.

Startled by this show of force, Tidus cried out hysterically, "Whoa whoa there, Miss Summoner! Calm down!"

"Let me go this instant!" she demanded angrily, "I demand you set me free!"

That had been Tidus' intention actually, that is until she started to throw her body weight around, which made him very unbalanced.

"Easy easy!" he exclaimed before he lost his grip on her.

With a cry of surprise, Yuna dropped onto the ground face first.

As she slowly recovered to her feet, Tidus was rubbing his hands, a clear look of annoyance on his face.

"Jeez lady! You sure do know how to rough 'em up!" he snapped at her in exasperation, "They teach that sort of thing in the temple?"

Yuna simply glared at him for few seconds before she raised her staff.

Tidus' eyebrows raised up in confusion, until a few seconds later.

"THWACK!"

"Ow!" Tidus cried out painfully as Yuna smacked the hilt of her staff over his head.

He took a few stumbling steps back and held up a hand to his buldging head bump.

"What the heck was that for?!" he roared in absolute bewilderment.

"You kidnapped me!" Yuna snapped angrily at him.

"K-Kidnap you?! I was trying to keep you safe!" he protested, "Granted it didn't pass off like that as much as I wanted, but it didn't have to warrant a knock on my Coronal Suture, y'know!"

Yuna's glare reddened with every passing second, "Oh really? Because I don't recall protection constituting anyone taking me far from my home without anyone's consent. This still warrants as a kidnapping!"

Tidus glowered at her a little as he rubbed his throbbing head, "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"I've had training," Yuna stated evenly, "In the event that I get kidnapped, I am to either use my magic or in this case, use my staff to incapacitate my captor."

Tidus blinked hard at her in utter disbelief.

"Of course they'd teach you such childish tactics, wouldn't they...?" he muttered to himself, "No wonder you Spirans haven't discovered space travel..."

"E-Excuse me?" Yuna questioned, suddenly caught off-guard by his remark.

Sighing sharply and shaking his head, he gazed back at Yuna with restrained anger.

"Never mind. Right now I need you to come with me," he stated curtly and started heading away in one direction again.

Yuna however did not follow, choosing instead to remain where she was.

"And why should I?" she demanded.

Pausing in his tracks momentarily, Tidus spun back around to face her.

He was about make an exasperated response, "Look..."

But that was when his eyes trailed off behind her and widened.

"... OUT!" he cried out in terror.

Confused by this, Yuna turned around, only to be met by the statue arms that pounced at her throat. Within seconds, she founded herself back on the ground again, her neck being constricted tightly by two hands.

Once more the fear of dying seeped into her thoughts, which made her lose all sense of control. Her hands flailed wildly and began to shoot out every type of elemental spell she had learnt.

Tidus watched in awed amazement at the colourful display of lightning, fire, water and air before he snapped out of it and charged over to her.

Swiftly and nimbly, he dodged all the attacks heading his way, moving around like a professional soccer player, before he finally reached Yuna.

As he quickly fished around for his pen in his pockets, he took a quick look at Yuna's face. She was gradually turning a dark shade of purple with each passing second, and her movements were becoming slower and weaker.

She was _dying_. He had to act fast!

Eventually he found his pen and twirled it expertly in his fingers. Activating it, he buzzed it directly at one of the hands. A few seconds later and the hand twitched and released its grip off of Yuna.

He then turned his attention to the other one, and he buzzed it as well, that is until his pen fizzled out a spark.

Tidus growled angrily in frustration.

Maybe it was malfunctioning after all!

He whacked a palm over it and it lit back up again. He quickly buzzed the hand to release its grip, and Yuna made a loud, agonising gasp once it did, before promptly losing consciousness seconds later.

As he set the arms aside, Tidus directed his pen at Yuna and buzzed her. Within seconds, it had collected all of her biometric data and he held his pen up to his eye level.

Through a psychic link, he quickly browsed through the information until he finally found what he needed to see.

He flinched slightly and pursed his lips, realising that he had barely **two** seconds left before the stone hands had popped Yuna's trachea.

But the damage was still pretty major: She had suffered a partial rupture to her esophagus, a half-crushed larynx and a badly injured epiglottis.

Reaching into an inner pocket of his yellow jacket, he pulled out a small gourd that was glowing in a yellowish hue.

The label of the title spelled out "Giga Elixir".

Kneeling closer to now unconscious Yuna, he tilted her head up slightly and opened her mouth. Carefully, Tidus began pouring the yellow liquid into her mouth, angling in way so that it flowed into her trachea, instead of her oesophagus.

After about a few minutes or so, Yuna's neck gave off a soft glow, as her throat began to repair and mend itself.

Satisfied by this, Tidus poured the remaining contents of the gourd onto his hand and rubbed it over her neck like ointment.

With that done, he pocketed the gourd and carefully carried Yuna on his back. She would still be down and out for a while, so she needed rest.

It was at that moment that Tidus was starting to feel a little bit guilty.

He never really wanted to intentionally involve Yuna in all of this, but his was left with little choice when his pen picked up unwanted signals converging on her hut. Little buggers must have scampered off right under his nose when he came around to investigate.

Hence his quick decision to keep her close to him just in case. And speaking of which...

His eyes darted over to where the stone hands now lay.

Frozen and unmoving, as they should be.

Grunting with effort, he angled his body sideways and moved over to the pair. With Yuna's weight on his back, it took quite a while to actually grab and balance out both arms (and her discarded staff too) in his hands whilst holding onto the Summoner.

Eventually, he managed to get by with juggling all three of them as he trudged on back through the forest.

After about another fifteen minutes of walking, he finally arrived at his destination.

He was greeted by a warm, blue glow and he cracked a wide smile.

* * *

Darkness was the first thing that greeted Yuna as she stirred from her slumber. Gradually, all of her senses began to reactivate along with her mind. And the first thing she felt was the ground.

It was hard, cold and... wet.

What on Spira was this?

And then came her hearing. There was a sound of trickling water, and some sort of humming sound... like a machina.

Slowly her eyes opened, and her vision was initially blurred before her pupils refocused and readjusted to the lighting of the area. And with a heave of effort she slowly and carefully hauled herself up onto her feet.

When she was finally able to take in all the sight, she became awestruck mesmerised by what she was seeing.

The area she was in appeared to be some sort of circular room, supported by six swirly trees that acted like pillars arranged in a hexagonal pattern that supported the ceiling above. The top ceiling was nearly pitch black from lack of lighting there, but the ground was illuminated in soft hues consisting of every shade of the colour blue.

From its outstretching branches, vines were dangling all over the place, and the outer rim of the room is entirely filled with shallow water. The inner rim that she was on, was a circular platform that was slightly elevated, although cascades of water still overflowed on it from time to time.

And then there was the very centre of the room, where she laid her eyes on what was perhaps the most beautiful tree she had ever seen in her life. Its trunk glowed and dimmed rhythmically at a slow pace and a soft hum, and at its top was a bright core that gave off a welcoming feel.

"Amazing..." Yuna muttered softly to herself in utter amazement.

"That's one way to put it," Tidus' voice called out to her in a prideful tone.

Almost immediately, her focus was switched over to the mysterious teen, who was right in front of the central tree, leaning against what appeared to be an odd-looking table that seemed to go all around the tree, as well some intriguing objects that were placed systematically all over its surface.

With a geniune smile, Tidus remarked, "Beautiful, isn't she? Well the old girl does have her special moments sometimes."

Pushing himself from the table, he slowly paced his way over to her.

"So... what do you think?" he asked her.

Yuna's eyes darted all around, a smile was forming at her lips.

"I... I don't know what to say..." she replied quietly, and she felt almost breathless at all this wonder, "It's like... I'm in another world..."

Tidus chuckled heartily as he continued to watch her soak it all in.

After about a couple of minutes walking all around the room, Yuna came to a stop right in front of him, her eyes widening at the sight of her staff now in his hand.

"Here," he offered her sincerely, "I swear this thing's stuck to you like glue."

Yuna nodded her head in thanks and she took back her staff.

A few moments of silence followed, as both parties suddenly felt unsure as to carrying the conversation forwards.

"So um... is this your home?" Yuna finally asked Tidus, with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

To this, Tidus grinned even wider, "Oh ho ho... it's so much more than that."

He wagged an index finger and took a step closer to the center.

"This is my ship, my means of travel, the ultimate gateway to worlds untold. The Space-Time Optimal Navigation Engine."

He stared up pridefully at the central tree then turned back to her and winked an eye.

"STONE for short."

Yuna suddenly looked confused, "U-Um... you s-ship?"

Tidus folded his arms and nodded, "Yup."

"It's some sort of... engine?"

"Yes it is."

There was something about his speech earlier that set off alarm bells inside of her head.

Wait a minute... a ship... engine... engine... engine...

... machina.

Yuna gasped softly to herself with widened eyes and a gaped mouth.

"Are you... are you an Al Bhed?" she suddenly questioned him aloud.

Tidus stared at her as though she just became mad, before he started bursting out into laughter. Yuna simply stared in surprise, but then she could not help but giggle along just by the way his laughing voice sounded.

After a while, Tidus finally stopped and as he caught his breath, he shook his head.

"Nah... I'm way more than just an Al Bhed," he responded.

Yuna took a step closer to him, her eyes scrutinizing his form.

"Then what are you?" she questioned.

Tidus leaned back against the table and folded his arms, "Well... I could tell you, but then you probably wouldn't believe me."

Yuna remained unconvinced as she said, "Try me. And I can always give you an incentive too, if you wish."

She held up her staff again for good measure; the sight of that thing actually made Tidus flinch. Inwardly, she could not help but giggle, suprisingly elated that she had some sort of leverage in this situation, her abilities aside.

But the moment of fear slipped by quickly, and Tidus made an amused smirk.

"Alright fine. But don't blame me when the ridicules start!"

Yuna rolled her eyes.

Hands clasped together and rubbing, Tidus proclaimed in a bold tone, "I'm not from Spira. I come from another world. But if you want specifics, well, I'm what you folks describe as an **alien**."

He waited with giddy anticipation for the teen's response, his mind practically filled with ways how he was going to say "I told you so!"

After a bit of contemplating, Yuna finally breathed out a long sigh and made her reply.

"I believe you."

Tidus' grin dropped as fast as glass.

"O...kay..." he mumbled out, "Not the reaction I was expecting, but what makes you say that?"

Yuna gestured with a free hand to the room around them.

"Well for one thing, this place looks... so real, almost like an unknown land yet to be discovered, even though it's clearly not. I can also tell that those things on your table are contraptions that the Al Bhed would probably find too advanced and complicated to use."

She pointed with the base end of her staff at the buttons, switches and levers.

Tidus nodded his head with impressed acknowledgement, "Very good. But what really gave you away that I'm not one of the Al Bhed?"

Yuna made a shrug, "Simple deduction. I've always been told that you can pick out an Al Bhed by their language and their accent. And even if they do speak the tongue of my people, the frequency of them going back to their own are even higher. You on the other hand, didn't utter a single word of that language, especially since when I first met you back at the temple."

Tidus nodded once more, growing ever more impressed by the Summoner's hidden talent.

"Y'know something Lady Yuna? If you weren't a Summoner, I might've been tempted to call you an inspector."

"I'll take it as a compliment then," Yuna remarked with a genuine smile.

Tidus reciprocated with a grin that was not as exaggerated as he normal ones.

"This girl is defnitely something else," he thought to himself, not even realising that he was parroting her own thoughts from last night.

Suddenly however, a loud buzzer started to sound off from the table, and Tidus shot right towards it.

Yuna quickly followed suit behind him.

"W-What's that sound?" she asked anxiously, "What's happening?"

Tidus stared right at the monitor screen and made a darkened frown.

"Oh you've gotta be kiddin' me!" he growled agitatedly and he ran around to the other end.

There he came across what appeared to be two puddles of mud dripping onto the floor, and two pairs of jumper cables dangling from the table.

Realising what had happened, Tidus slammed a hand onto the table.

"Damn it..." he cursed out quietly under his breath.

Yuna slowed in her pace as she took in the frustration that had suddenly plagued Tidus' form.

Carefully approaching his side, she softly asked with concern, "Tidus... Is everything alright?"

Tidus remained motionless and unresponsive, and she began to wonder if he was suddenly lost in his own thoughts to even listen.

But then he straightened himself and stared right ahead into the distance.

Yuna's heart suddenly began to ache out of instinct - she could almost sense and see the torturous fire in those weary blue eyes that (she swore) appeared much older in age compared to the rest of him.

"Looks like I've lost the signal too early..." he muttered, almost in a frighteningly despondent voice, "I should've known the arms were too simple to use."

Yuna tilted her head in confusion, "Simple? For what purpose?"

Tidus took a step back from her and folded his arms tightly, "It's complicated to explain."

With one more glance at Yuna, he started sauntering around his table again, and suddenly began to fiddle with the buttons and the switches.

Yuna looked on with curious eyes as he went to work with them. That is, until he turned a circular-shaped dial switch clockwise.

Suddenly, the STONE began to shudder to life, and the central tree began to blink faster, accompanied by a groaning sound and a loud buzzing.

Surprised by the sudden shift in weight, Yuna stumbled to hold onto something to keep herself steady. Eventually she managed to find her grip on one of the levers on the table.

But that was when Tidus suddenly snapped at her, "Hands off the console please!"

He pressed on one big blue button, and the ship finally stabilised, allowing Yuna to remove herself from the metallic console.

Instinctively angling herself over to Tidus for protection, she asked nervously, "What's happening, Tidus?"

Tidus who had the monitor right in front of him, continued to stare at the information on it as he replied, "No questions right now, please."

Yuna was confused by his answer, "What? But why not?"

Tidus glanced at her and made light wink, "Sometimes I believe in letting actions speak on my behalf. Now hold on tight!"

After a couple of more minutes in flight, Tidus turned the dial switch again, making the STONE grind to a halt.

Turning on his heels sharply, Tidus brushed past the Summoner and marched right for the door.

"Tidus! Wait!" Yuna cried out to him and rushed after him.

With one great push, Tidus opened the entrance and stepped out, Yuna following suit a second later.

Immediately she founded herself in a familiar cavernous tunnel.

"This... this is..." she gasped aloud in surprise and disbelief.

"Yup. The tunnels of the Cloister of Trails," Tidus finished for her as he proceeded to survey the area, "Or rather, the place where I sent you off."

His eyes narrowed and he whipped out his pen to scan the area.

"Alright, the villagers haven't reached this far in yet," he commented dryly and pocketed it away.

"We moved..." Yuna mumbled to herself, "We _really_ moved..."

"Which is hardly surprising, considering this place being almost abandoned for decades. Any normal person could easily get lost here."

"But we moved..."

Ignoring the Summoner, Tidus noticed bits and pieces of refined rocks on the ground. He knelt down over them and began shuffling through them.

Tidus picked up a few pieces, and after a bit of inspection, he carelessly tossed them aside.

"Not you... and not you..." he grumbled to himself, "Definitely came from between the thighs..."

"Um... Tidus?" Yuna called out his name, now suddenly right at his side noticing what he was doing.

Tidus made a sideways glance her way before he pushed something into her hands.

"Here, hold this," he ordered before he started collecting more fragments.

As the pile kept on growing in her arms, Yuna attempted to ask, "About that quill item that you used, what is it called?"

"It's a Pen. An Sonic Pen," Tidus replied back, "Comes in handy in tight situations."

Yuna hummed in thought and then playfully joked, "And here I thought it was only good for making that buzzing sound."

Tidus spun sharply to her and gasped in shock, as though someone accidentally spilt his milk.

"How... DARE you say that to my beloved pen!" he exclaimed dramatically, and he actually placed a hand to his chest, "I'll have you know she can do lots of things!"

Yuna quirked an eyebrow with a smirk, "Oh? Do tell."

Tidus scoffed and wagged a finger, "Aaaah, not so fast! Better to see her in action then tell you everything upfront, eh?"

Ignoring the unamused pout, he continued to search through the pieces until he stopped a few minutes later.

"Right! That should be all of 'em! C'mon, back to the STONE!" he exclaimed joyfully.

Turning around, he brisked his way back, and Yuna quickly followed.

And then she paused.

Blue and green eyes widened at the sight that greeted her.

A fairly large light-blue crystal was hovering above the ground before her, basking in the soft glow of light that it emitted.

Tidus stood before it and reached for a faintly etched mark on the door with the tip of his fingers. Upon contact, the mark glowed slightly as it registered with his DNA signature and then a second later, a door-sized section of front opened with a "hiss!" Beyond it, was the familiar room that Yuna marvelled, and just as he took a step inside, Tidus paused to look back to notice her reaction

He more or less smiled in amusement at her gaping mouth.

"C'mon Yuna," he called out to her snappily, "Time waits for no Man, or Woman in your case."

Shaken out of her stupor by his voice, Yuna quickly brisked over to the STONE, where Tidus eagerly took the fragments from her.

"Thanks a dozen!" he thanked chirpily and he continued on his way, unaware of the growing level of shock on Yuna's face.

At his console, Tidus laid out the fragments where the jumper cables were and then reached underneath to pull out a portable welding torch and a safety mask. From there he began going to work, gluing the fragments back together.

Meanwhile from behind, Yuna was busy try to comprehend something.

_"How does a big room fit inside a crystal?"_ she wondered to herself deeply in thought.

Like a confused child, she frequently dashed out of the STONE just to view its exterior, then ran back into view its interior. After about ten times of running back and forth, she still could not wrap her mind around it.

That was when Tidus had completed his work on the fragments, and he lifted up his visor to view it.

"And there we go," he praised himself with satisfaction at the newly reconstructed head.

It was almost as authentic as when it was carved, but it was still good enough to serve its purpose.

He pulled out his pen to scan it, and he was elated that the head still had a strong psychic link of sorts.

Tidus quickly went to work attaching to jumper cables to its forehead, like he was preparing a prisoner in an electric chair.

Once he was done with that, he called out over his shoulders, "Miss Summoner, we're taking off!"

And that when his eyes caught her runningn in and out of the STONE. With brows raised, he stepped on over to the increasingly astonished Summoner who did seem to stop in whatever she was trying to do.

And then realisation hit him.

"... Of course..." he thought to himself with a mental facepalm.

When she came back another round, he stepped right into her path and grabbed her gently by the arms.

"Anything the matter?" he asked with a grin, obviously knowing what the answer was going to be.

Yuna blinked at him a few times in sheer blankness, and then she darted all around her, her lips moving and mumbling something under her breath.

"Hey hey, calm down," Tidus said softly to her, "Just say what comes to your mind. Don't worry, almost everybody else had the same reaction as you."

After a few steady breaths to compose herself, Yuna slowly commented, "This place of yours is astounding... It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

Tidus nodded his head, "And...?"

He looked as though he was wanting her to say something specific.

Yuna shrugged lightly, "W-Well... it looks bigger on the inside."

"And that she is," Tidus responded with a chuckle and he stepped over to shut the door.

He then swept back over to the console and began working on the controls. A second later and the STONE took off again.

As Yuna quietly walked over to his side, Tidus was busily analysing the data shown on his monitor screen.

"YYYYYup," he muttered to himself, "Signal's holding... should be there soon..."

Confused by this, Yuna peered at the monitor as well and quizzically asked, "There where?"

Tidus looked to her with seriousness, "I've fixed together the fragments into one, and am now using its psychic link to trace back to wherever it came from."

He gestured over to the other end of the console, which prompted Yuna to step over there.

Her eyes traced the jumper cables that were attached to the head, and then her gaze softened gradually.

"My father's statue head..." she thought to herself in deep sadness, and she briefly recalled the heart-wrenching moment when news broke out of her father's passing at the hands of Sin.

And then all of sudden, the STONE came to a sudden stop, and Yuna stumbled a little in surprise.

Upon recovery, she took notice of Tidus who was shooting off towards the door, and she quickly followed suit. Out the door she went, and she made a brief observation of her surroundings.

Within her seconds her eyes went wide, the realisation of one thing settling in.

"I don't recall seeing a place like this in Besaid," she commented nervously.

Tidus narrowed his eyes ahead, "That's because this isn't Besaid."

It was at that revelation that Yuna whirled on him with a look of horror.

"We're not on Besaid Island anymore?!" she exclaimed in absolute terror.

In a split-second Tidus dramatically spun around at her, flailed his arms about and scrunched up his face.

"Ssshhh!" he hushed her harshly in a hushed whisper, "Keep it down! We don't wanna draw attention to ourselves here!"

But Yuna clearly wasn't finished yet, so he slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling out the rest of whatever she was saying. His eyes continued to survey the bustling area, looking for any signs of suspicious activity.

"Seems clear... and more and more people living in ignorant bliss."

Ultimately giving up on trying to voice out her thoughts, Yuna instead decided to take in all the sights that lay before her.

Everything here appeared and felt different as compared to Besaid. The lifestyle here was befitting of a large city compared to a tiny village. And yet through it all, there was this tingling feeling at the back of her mind.

Why did this place seem so... familiar?

"Tidus?" she asked him distantly, "Where exactly are we?"

"Bevelle of course," Tidus replied back, "Heart of Spira, and the very seat of power of your Yevonite religion. Visited here a couple times before, but the place never really grew on me."

He was so caught up in his own speech, that he was unaware of the look of trepidation on the Summoner's face.

"Those alien rocks didn't turn up on your island out of the blue," he continued on, "And considering that its signal brought us here, I'd say it's fair enough to deduce that they were being sold off from somewhere. Hitching a ride on all the trade routes, as well as commuters who buy them."

But then his expression soured, as though realisation dawned on him.

"But if the rocks were being sold to even tourists from abroad... then that would mean..."

Yuna's eyes widened as well, now also considering the implications this could have on Spira.

"Right. We need to move quickly," Tidus declared darkly and he began storming off in one direction, the Summoner following close at his heels.

Looking back at Yuna he instructed, "Look for a shophouse, any stall, that sells rocks. Solely rocks."

The pair brisked their way into the city, and they quickly began scoping out every single shop they could find. This went on for about three hours given the size of the city, but with no success.

After another thirty minutes of tireless searching, an exhausted Yuna asked Tidus for a small break.

Although he complained that time was precious, he reluctantly gave in. With heavy, labored breaths, Yuna almost practically fell into a nearby bench, drained of all her energy.

Stroding up behind her with a frustrated glower on his face, Tidus commented, "We're never gonna stop those rocks at this rate."

He leaned against the bench frame and folded his arms with a loud huff.

Staring out into the city, he griped, "It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Don't you feel tired too?" Yuna questioned him breathlessly, "We have been walking for quite a while."

Tidus shrugged, "Meh. Exhaustion is so overrated for the likes of me."

Yuna frowned slightly, "So it's another alien attribute of yours?"

Tidus nodded his head bluntly, but made no verbal response, allowing a moment of silence of befall the pair.

As she continued to recover herself, Yuna not help but glance up at his scornful expression.

The way his hair moved in the breeze, that passionate fire that she could see burning in those proud eyes...

Another memory flashed in her mind, this time of her father before he departed on his pilgrimage. He too had that same faraway look at he stared out towards the sea and the horizon beyond it.

_"Why do you remind me of him when I look at you?"_ she wondered quietly in her mind.

Tidus' face softened a little and he let out a sigh.

"When did I start getting rusty?" he muttered under his breath and he wiped his face with a hand, "Centuries of travelling, fighting and saving the Universe oughta have buried it into my system. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to find one stupid rock shop."

Yuna rose to her feet and turned to him.

"Alright really, what are these alien rocks supposed to be?" she questioned him, "I mean, you said it yourself that they came to Spira from space a long time ago. So start explaining to me fully, in detail."

Tidus stared at her as though she had finally gone loco before he shook his head.

"Remember what I told you about the signal thing in that head?" he asked her and she nodded, "Well, the rocks don't separate entities acting of their own volition; they're being controlled."

Yuna was taken by surprise by this, "Controlled?"

Tidus nodded, "Mmm hmm. Like a toy car with a controller. Including those statues in that temple of yours. All branched out to form a collective hive of consciousness. Hive mind in shorter terms. But the source of the hive is using telepathic sound waves to emit the control signals to the rocks, meaning it needs one critical tool."

He took a step forth and scanned around the city.

"A satellite dish or an antenna. Big and tall enough to even make your statues come alive thousands of miles away!"

He looked back to Yuna, "Of course it's vital to find the nutjob who's selling the rocks first since finding an antenna in a city this huge is harder-and you're not even listening to me anymore, are you?"

He noticed that Yuna was not paying attention to him anymore; her green/blue eyes gazing at something behind him. Of course he paid no mind to it immediately, believing there was some sort of street show or fight going on.

_"Typical..."_ he thought to himself in annoyance.

In great restraint, he calmly asked her, "What's the matter now? Something else catching your different-coloured eyes?"

He spun around to see the street - there was nothing different that seemed to be happening, at least not by his standards.

He looked back her with a puzzled look.

Yuna simply smiled at him and gestured her head.

Raising his eyebrow, Tidus looked around again to find nothing happening.

"What's she playing at here?" he wondered to himself suspiciously.

Was the summoner seeing something that he couldn't see?

Looking at her again, he questioned one more time with a slightly higher and impatient tone, "What is it? What?"

Yuna gestured with head again and this time he analysed it slowly. She seemed to be pointing over his shoulder to something behind him, or rather **looming** over him.

With that in mind, he looked around again and this time adjusted his focus a bit higher up.

His eyes met with a large tower looming over him, with a thin top that could almost be passed off as a...

"Oh..."

His eyes widening with realisation, he looked back to Yuna.

"Oh...!"

A wide grin was forming on his face.

"Spectacular!"

He zipped off in a flash.

Yuna blinked at him in befuddlement before she started racing after him.

And so they continued on their way towards their target, ignoring the gazes that passerbys were throwing their way. After covering another twenty metres, they arrived close to the base of the tower. As it turned out, the entire building the tower was built upon looked more like a glorified palace of sorts.

Darting his eyes about, Tidus started getting a quick view of his surroundings.

"Alright. If this is where the signal is being transmitted, then the hive mind must be here," he deduced analytically, "And if the hive mind is here, then that means..."

He then spotted a couple close by as they were walking away from the tower. Each of them were carrying something in their hands.

Eyes widening, Tidus exclaimed, "Aha! Jackpot!"

He pointed his index finger straight at the objects, and Yuna followed his gaze.

She gasped softly, "Rock statues...!"

"Exactly! Them being here means that we're in the right spot!" Tidus cried out joyfully, "Look! There's more of 'em!"

The pair eyed the handful of locals and tourists that were walking away from the building, with rocks of all shapes and forms in their hands. There were also more people that were rushing inside the building's main entrance, with gleeful smiles etched on their faces.

"Right in the middle of a mass shopping spree too!" Tidus remarked, "What a coincidence!"

Turning to him, Yuna suddenly inquired, "But if the shop is here, then where would the hive mind be hiding? I mean, it's probably obvious it wouldn't be that far apart from the other."

Becoming serious again, Tidus nodded his head in agreement, "Good question, Yuna. Guess we'll have to follow the crowd and find out. Come on!"

He tugged her along and they both headed right on into the tower.

Upon entering the main foyer, they were greeted by the sight that was set before them. What was supposed to look like a foyer, had now been converted into a mega market. There were miles and miles of tall shelves that almost reached the top of the ceiling. And atop of them sat countless architectural sculptures all different shapes and sizes. Some were as tall as a chocobo, others were as small as a mouse. Some were fat and some were thin. Some were wide and some were short.

All around them, Tidus and Yuna caught sight of hundreds of people swarming around all the shelves.

"Man, would you look at 'em all?" Tidus commented in utter amazement, "Flocking to the rocks like eager children getting free candy from a candy store. Which isn't that far off..."

He pointed an index finger right at a huge banner that was hanging right at the other end of the lobby. It read "BEAUTIFUL ROCKS FOR EVERYONE! FREE OF CHARGE!"

Yuna blinked at the message, a little dumbfounded by the directness of it. Tidus read her expression like an open book.

Nodding his head, he agreed, "Yeah, me too. That's putting things a bit too mildly."

"But Tidus," Yuna then spoke out over the noise level of the crowd, "How are we supposed to find the source of all the rocks in this place?"

Tidus smiled at this, "Child's play Miss Summoner. Watch and learn."

He stalked off towards one of the customers, ignoring Yuna's cries of "I have a name, you know!" far behind him.

Standing steadfast where she was, Yuna observed as the strange teenager walked from customer to customer, asking for the location of where those rocks were originating from, albeit with different levels of charm she quickly noted. She was almost amused at all the responses he got in turn. They ranged from laughing at him for apparent ignorance, staring back at him like he'd been living under a rock, and hot-tempered flare ups that almost resulted in a scuffle taking place.

Eventually, Tidus finally came across one of the guards that were stationed in the building. He flashed out something in his hand, something that Yuna was unable to identify unfortunately, and then the guard hastily directed him with dramatic waves of his arms.

Happily sauntering back over to her, Tidus grinned, "And that is how you ask for directions without almost losing your temper!"

This time Yuna picked up on the forcefulness of his expression, but he turned away quickly before she dwell on it further.

"C'mon, the guard said the rocks came from the basement," he said as he strode off in great strides.

Yuna once more racing to catch up with him. The pair headed towards the other end of the lobby, where the entranceway to a stairwell was being guarded by two men armed with spears and standing on both ends of the entrance.

Noticing their arrival, one of the two guards stepped forth and held up a hand.

"Halt," he commanded in a booming voice, "None may pass beyond this point. This is a restricted area."

Tidus lifted a finger, "Yeah... about that... I had a little chit chat with your buddy over there earlier..."

Yuna watched curiously as he fished out what appeared to be a small white paper of sorts. It looked stiff in design and appearance. Could paper ever do that? Tidus held it up in front of the guard who inspected it for a brief moment. Never in a million years would she expect what happened next.

The guard's eyes widened like saucers and stared hard at Tidus.

"My Lord!" he greeted hastily as he bowed graciously before the teen.

His colleague looked at him in confusion before his eyes also set their sights on the little paper thing. He too quickly bowed his head.

Folding his arms over his chest, Tidus nodded, "If you guys don't mind, I would like to tour the underground tunnels. My people back home are thinkin' of setting up shop around here. No escorts are necessary. I know how to get by here."

The guards saluted him, "Yes sir!"

They stood off to side, allowing Tidus to start moving pass them.

Yuna quickly followed suit after him, but then noticed the guards' wary scrutiny that followed after her.

Thinking quickly however, she spoke up, "I am his personal assistant."

Okay, she could have worded that one a little better. The guards shared a glance with one another before responding with nonchalant shrugs, which the go-ahead Yuna needed to keep after Tidus.

As they descended down the stairwell and far beyond the earshot of the guards, Tidus elbowed Yuna at her arm and snarked, "Really? A personal assistant, eh?"

Yuna sighed in embarrassment, "It was the only thing that came to me in that moment..."

"Oh please, there's so many other things you could've come up with," Tidus snarked teasingly, "Partner, friend, just a colleague tagging along. Anything at all! You ought to be lucky those two dumbbells actually didn't give two craps about your "job occupation", what with the way that you're dressed."

Yuna sent him a pointed glare, "And speaking of job occupation, what was it with that paper thing of yours? How did yoh manage to trick them into letting us through?"

"Oh? Y'mean this thing?" Tidus asked, playfully waving the peculiar item in front of her face.

Annoyed by his antic, Yuna raised her staff threatingly at him, as if she really wanted to hit him again. Tidus recoiled back slightly although his smile never left his face.

Twirling it in his fingers expertly, he explained, "Just a bit of technological trickery, really. This is a Necro Card. Anything I want people see, shows up here."

Tossing it up into the air, Tidus grabbed it and pocketed it back into his shirt. "Those two saps thought I was the Lord of Besaid."

Yuna raised an eyebrow at this, "Besaid?"

"Yup!" Tidus grinned, "Turns out those two never ever learnt that your home was just an island full of villagers!"

"And you were just banking on that risk?" Yuna queried in bafflement.

Tidus nodded, "Yup!"

"And what if they knew that Besaid was really just full of priests and villagers?"

"If there's one thing my experience has told me, security details are always the dumbest of any military! They always dump the weak ones there!" Tidus replied back confidently as he strode along, They always dump the weak ones there!"

"In your case only..." Yuna added to herself under her breath.

The pair continued on until they finally reached the base of the stairs. There, they encountered a huge door. It handles were sealed tight by a huge padlock.

"Ah. A lock, eh? No problem!" Tidus chirped passively as he fished into his pocket for his pen.

Yuna turned to him and asked, "So once we find this hive mind, how are we going to stop it?"

"Well, in cases like this my first option is to approach them calmly. Have a diplomatic conversation. See if they harbor good or bad intentions for your planet," Tidus explained as he forked out his pen and inspected it, "And considering it's living alien space rocks, I'd kinda like to believe they're either finding a new home to live on or they're fighting for the Rights of Rocks."

Yuna blinked at this, "Rocks have rights?"

Tidus winked at her, "Oh you'd be surprised Miss Summoner! It's a big, strange Universe out there. Kronans are a good example."

"... O-Okay fine! But what if the rocks have the opposite of good intentions?"

Tidus halted suddenly and his expression hardened for a brief second.

"Well if it comes down to that..." he responded more seriously this time, his free hand subconsciously shifting into another pocket, "... then I've got a bit of leverage."

He pulled out a glass cylindrical tube and showed it to Yuna.

As she gazed at it curiously, he further explained, "The chemical mixtures in this vial are quite explosive. Should be enough to shut down that hive mind and those rocks for good."

Putting it away, he eyed Yuna with warily. "Now, I know that you're still probably confused about what's going on here, and again I'm so SO sorry I dragged you into this, but if you want to live you'll do as I say? Understand?"

Yuna knew for sure this time he was not kidding around. Being this close to the source meant that it was no longer time for joking around. Evil danger was lurking just behind those locked doors. Whether or not she had issues with this stranger was unimportant now. If she ever hoped to get back to Besaid and live to become a Summoner like her father, she needed to trust in him.

Nodding her head in understanding, she replied back, "I trust you. With my life."

Smiling in acknowledgement, Tidus remarked, "Funny, most people I know would just say "yes"."

He pointed his pen at the padlock and buzzed it. Within seconds, there was clicking sound as the door were unlocked.

"I guess you're the exception," Tidus continued and with a flourish he tossed his pen into the air and stuffed back into his pocket.

Walking over to the doors, he removed the padlock and pushed hard against the wooden surface. The door opened with a gradual creaking sound. As he took the first few steps inside, Tidus placed the padlock atop a cupboard before proceeding to take look at the place.

The basement appeared to be some sort of coveted storage warehouse facility. Scores of items and furniture were either filed on the shelf or boxed up and laid all around. It was the latter half that they had to navigate their way around, which took quite a bit of work.

"Watch your step," Tidus cautioned Yuna as she almost tripped on a broken chair leg, "This close to the hive, there's bound to be a few nasty surprises 'round here."

Then, as if he took his own advice to heart, the teen whipped out his pen again and scanned the vicinity.

As they rounded a corner, Yuna could not help but stare at all the things that were being held inside the basement. Who knew such a place could house so many things?

"Watch out!" Tidus yelled and she suddenly founded herself being pulled to the grunt.

Seconds later, there came a huge crash and the ground shook beneath their feet. As the dust cascaded around them, Tidus took a hard look at the debris behind him, noting that they were out of harm's way, for now anyways.

Hopping to his feet, he marched over to the fallen shelf, specifically its metal legs. From behind him, Yuna struggled to heave herself up, but she could feel the stinging cuts to her arms she sustained when she fell.

Biting back a hiss, she silently mumbled under her breath, "... Cure..."

A green aura washed over her form briefly, closing up all the wounds and she breathed in relief. Her strength renewed, Yuna got back on her feet before she headed over to Tidus' location. Her eyes then caught sight of him scrutinising the broken legs curiously.

"Hmm..." Tidus hummed quietly, "The structural integrity has been compromised... Astounding..."

Yuna tilted her head, "Astounding?"

Tidus leapt to his feet, "Yup. Because this right here's reinforced Mythril. Supposed to be twice as sturdy. And yet it still collapsed. Wanna know why?"

Noting her confused features, he answered, "Matter manipulation. And a highly advanced one at that. Someone hijacked the molecules, and set it to implode in on itself when we crossed through here. Think of an explosive minus the trip wire. Now that's clever strategy. Most probably wouldn't see it coming."

Yuna blinked at him, "Um..."

Baffled at first, Tidus then sighed, "Right... Yevonite... Forgot about that. A-Anyways, let's get a move on shall we?"

He stalked on ahead, this time with his Sonic Pen out and at the ready. Pointing it all around like a searchlight, he scanned the surrounding area, attempting to pinpoint their destination while at the same time detecting for any other potential booby traps.

Yuna noted how effective the peculiar item was. Thanks to its capabilities, Tidus was able to lead them around a majority of other well-positioned traps. Although it meant having to take a slight detour around the whole complex, they still managed to find their way across.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. Another closed door at the other end of the basement warehouse. This time though, they could see that there was something off about it. The wood was slightly chipped and bent, and there was smoke billowing out from right underneath it.

Tidus looked to Yuna, and placed a finger to his lips. Getting a nod from her, he proceeded close to the door. He bleeped his Pen over the keyhole, and heard a resounding "click" seconds later. Putting it away, he grabbed onto the handles and pulled them over.

Almost immediately they were blasted by a huge plume of smoke that rolled out from the other side. Surprised by the surplus of smoke entering her nose and lungs, Yuna let out a sharp cough and waved with her free hand. Tidus on the other hand, stared right through the smoke to what lied beyond.

With an hand gesture to Yuna to stay close, he slowly began inching his way forwards through the opened entranceway. As the pair moved further along, the smoke continued to cascade all around them, as though they were swimming through a sea of fog.

Finally though, they reached a point that the smoke began to clear, and that was where they founded themselves atop a high metal platform with a railing at the edge. Peering over it, they spotted what appeared to be a molten vat. It was glowing in shades of red, orange and yellow, and it appeared to be swirling.

"Something's off about this," Tidus deduced, "Liquid shouldn't be able to move on its own."

Yuna looked to him quizzically.

"It always needs some sort of kinetic movement from a foreign source to keep its waves flowing. But look at it..." He pointed to the base of the vat holding the liquid. "There's no signs of any mechanical contraptions at its base, i.e. its just a bowl. A very big bowl."

Yuna understood tbe comprehension of his meaning. "S-So that means... this is..."

His gloved hands twitching slightly, he then said to Yuna, "Stay here, where you're safe."

He headed off towards a staircase closeby that he spotted as they came in.

Alarmed by this, Yuna called to him, "Where are you going?"

Tidus took his first steps down the stairs and gazed back up to her, responding with a wink before he continued his brisk descent.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Tidus marched his way over to the ledge of the lower platform overlooking the vat. With hands at his hips and his face masked in neutrality, he finally began to speak out loud.

"I seek audience with the Hive Mind under peaceful contract, as per Article No. 56 of the Universal Constitution!" His proud voice echoed all around the area overlooking the vat.

Much to Yuna's genuine surprise, there was a low growl that answered back no more than a few seconds later. And it came from the molten vat no less! There was no more doubting and no more speculating.

This had to be the Hive Mind of the alien rocks!

"Thank you!" Tidus nodded, obviously the only one able to understand its method of communication. "Permission to approach?"

Another low growl, which Yuna took as an answer of approval.

She watched Tidus step closer towards the edge of the lower platform. All the while she grew extremely worried for the situation he was willingly placing himself in.

"Thank you. Now, as I've observed, you infiltrated this world through the usage of warped, shunt technology. Absconded from the Deities. So, if you would kindly use it one more time and "shunt" off?"

He grinned slightly at his snark then chuckled to Yuna, "See what I did there? I said "shunt" and then-"

More growling, this time more antagonistic in nature. Yuna became more nervous as the swirl pattern became more erratic and agressive.

Tidus folded his arms and made a look as if to say "Are you kidding me?"

"Oh, don't give me that!" he huffed, "Constitutional rights, huh? I think this constitutes as an invasion, plain and simple!" The Hive Mind growled more loudly, as if it was daring the teen to challenge him.

"CAN YOU SHUT IT AND LISTEN FOR SEC?!" Tidus suddenly snapped, shutting up the Hive Mind.

Yuna looked on, surprised and anxious by his sudden change in tone.

"This planet is only just starting! Rebuilding from a great war of their own! These people have only just started to learn all the capabilities they can achieve, so what gives you the right to determine their fate, huh?! Look, all I'm asking is that you leave! Please! Just go!"

And then out of the corner of her eyes, Yuna gasped as she saw rock statues appearing from the shadows behind Tidus. They were stalking right towards him, their arms outstretched.

"Tidus look out!" she cried out as she leaned over slightly and pointed to them.

Tidus looked over his shoulder, but it was already too late. Powerful and stiff hands grabbed at his arms and forced them behind his back. Despite his knowledge that resistance was futile, Tidus still couldn't help tugging a bit here and there out of sheer instinct.

From the higher platform, Yuna watched helplessly as they searched his person for anything suspicious. Sure enough, they discovered the glass vial containing the anti-rock mixture. Her heart dropped to her stomach and her face paled. Tidus eyed it with a stunned expression too, and it said it all.

They were screwed.

"U-Um... I wasn't gonna use it! I swear!" he pleaded in a desperate attempt to quell any misunderstanding, but alas such scenario was not to be.

The molten mass below snarled in an animalistic way, and it slowly turned in a dark shade of blood red. Yuna gulped down a lump in her throat. This was... definitely not a good sign.

Tidus however still tried to calm it down. "No no! You don't understand! I'm trying to help you! Not here to kill you! Please!"

And then suddenly, the Hive Mind bulged outwards, and to Yuna's shock a grosteque face formed. It let out one violent roar, as if it was shouting a command.

From behind Tidus, another pair of rock statues reached over to opposite ends of a tall curtain, and pulled it down by its soft fabric. Tidus looked behind him, stupefied to see a familiar-looking crystal hovering there. And while Yuna couldn't get a better look from her vantage point, she could easily tell what he was looking at from the glowing auras shining from behind him.

A sweat trickling down his forehead, Tidus looked back to the Mind.

"Yes, that's my ship, nothing more," he stated, "But how'd you even manage to bring her here? I mean, it's not like your statues could-"

The Hive Mind snarled heatedly at him, its "brows" furrowed in an accusing fashion.

Tidus' eyes widened in panic, "No! That's totally untrue! I was there too! Fighting in the war! I swear on my life I wasn't in on it!"

More accusing snarls.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your world! I tried but I couldn't save any of them!"

And then the Hive Mind began to shake its "head" around in a violent manner.

Worried by this, Yuna called out, "Tidus! What's happening?"

"It's the STONE!" Tidus shouted as he continued struggling in the statues' grip, "The Hive Mind identified it as a superior technology! Meaning it's scared to death by it! It's gonna commence the final stage early!"

He stared her directly in the eyes, "It's gonna start the invasion!"

Yuna's mouth gaped open at this harrowing revelation. The Hive Mind opened its mouth and began to flare blue electricity, shooting it up all the way through the building until it reached the antenna.

"No no no! It's the activation signal, it's transmitting!" Tidus yelled.

From the antenna, the wavelength of the signal began shooting outwards across and beyond Bevelle in every direction, going at the speed of light as it traversed thousands of miles in a single minute.

* * *

Back on Besaid, Wakka and the search party had just returned to the village, and the former was now heading towards the Temple, where someone else was standing at.

As her eyes gazed over the ruins of the entrance, she heard Wakka calling from behind. "Lulu! I'm back!"

Turning around hastily to greet him, she questioned, "Any sign of the thief?"

With his hands at his hips, Wakka sighed out, "Not even a trace of 'im. It's almost as if he's disappeared into thin air, ya?"

Then taking a look around, he wondered, "By the way, where's Yuna? Haven't seen her since the investigation in the temple."

Lulu kept her eyes on the Temple ruins, "Haven't seen her since this morning. Chances are she's still in her hut."

Wakka nodded, his attention turned to the hut atop the hill. "How you think she's holdin' up with all this?"

"Considering she managed to keep a cool head, I would say very well," Lulu noted as she turned around to face him.

Her eyes now trained on the hut where Yuna had retreated back to, she continued, "Even so though, there's much she needs to prepare for before she embarks on her pilgrimage."

Wakka smiled slightly, "I wouldn't worry that much about her, ya? If she's anything like her father, then I'm almost certain that she'll pull through anything, ya?"

"Perhaps..." Lulu muttered, a hint of uncertainty evident in her tone.

Suddenly, a loud, terrified shriek echoed out. Both islanders spun around in alarm.

"That came from the village!" Wakka exclaimed.

Lulu narrowed her eyes, "Come on!"

They raced back in the direction of the village as fast as their legs could carry them, and when they got there, their eyes widened in disbelief at what they saw.

"Oh Yevon! Somebody help!" a teenaged boy yelled as he pulled his little sister from a moving statue.

Wait, a **moving** statue?!

"What in the world of Yevon is this..." Lulu muttered under her breath, still unable to believe what she was seeing.

Was this the work of Sin? Or could be some attack by the Al Bhed? Or could it be-

"Lulu!" Wakka cried out and he pulled her away, just before another live statue attacked her from behind.

Before it could go for her again, Wakka retaliated with a well-placed punch to the chest which sent it spiraling backwards. Ignoring the sting at his knuckles, the Blitzball player started escorting Lulu away.

"Aurochs!" he hollered out hastily, "Rally on me! Protect the women and children!"

At his behest, all the players in the area moved swiftly to fight off the statues and escort any straggling villagers away. As chaos ravaged all around her, Lulu shot her eyes up to the top of the hill, to Yuna's hut.

"Yuna!" she cried out at the same time Wakka yelled, "Fall back to the Temple!"

She struggled against his grip and they made their way over to the Temple.

* * *

As he continued to fight an unwinnable battle against his captors, Tidus looked up to Yuna who was still looking at him with terror and concern.

Frantically, he yelled out, "Get out of here! Now!"

Hesitating for a millisecond, a conflicted Yuna decided to turn on her heels. Too late. One snarl from the Hive Mind and she saw that it had turned its attention on her.

Her eyes glanced to the sides and the statues that were heading her way. Alarmed by this, Tidus shouted to her,

"NO!" Looking back to the Hive Mind, he pleaded desperately, "Leave her outta this! Take me, but let her go!"

The Hive Mind roared at him, signifying its intentions to claim Yuna as its first Spiran victim.

Eyeing her attackers with fear in her eyes, Yuna's grip tightened around her staff and her legs stood rooted in place.

Fear clouded her thoughts. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know how she was going to get out of this. All that she was able to do, was think and believe that this was the end.

Was this truly where her fated pace had led her to? Was her destiny truly not to become a Summoner like her father before her? A feeling of hopelessness and resignation began to sink in as the statues closed in on her. She closed her eyes tightly, blocking out the sight of them, minus the sounds of stomping stone feet closing in on her, as well as Tidus' voice crying out in panic.

But then however... her eyes opened again. A mixture of emotions flowed through her.

"No..." she thought to herself.

Yuna had no idea where this new feeling was coming from, but she wasn't about to just cower in the face of death and let an invasive species take over Spira. Not on her watch. This was her duty, as a Summoner.

Facing down one of her captors, she held up her staff in a defensive pose. And down below, Tidus had ceased in his struggle once he noticed her change in demeanor.

"W-What is she...?" he muttered under his breath.

Yuna narrowed her eyes.

"I am Yuna," she proclaimed softly in growing determination as the statues got closer, "I am a Summoner. I am the protector of Spira. And in the name of my father, your ascension over my world will not go unpunished!"

She lifted a hand and channeled her magic.

In a burst of fire, the statue before her was blasted into a pile of rocks, stunning both Tidus and the Hive Mind. Yuna felt a hand grab her by the shoulder, and without even looking she hammered her staff against the top of the other statue's head.

The attack sent it reeling back a little, giving her enough space to turn and shoot a bolt of lightning its way. Shaking out of his stupor, Tidus noticed that the other two statues holding him were also watching Yuna fight off its brethren. Taking opportunity of the distraction, he shrugged off their hands and delivered a swift kick to their chests.

The two statues went flying right into the molten body of the Hive Mind, making a splash as they disappeared beneath its surface. Enraged by the turn of events, the Hive Mind roared a command. Within seconds, a dozen more statues appeared and starting marching towards the duo.

Tidus simply smirked at this and cracked his knuckles.

"You ever been in a fight before?" he called up to Yuna as she took on a fight stance.

"Unfortunately no," Yuna replied with a shake of her head.

Tidus grinned, "But you seem to do well for a first-timer! Just keep at it, and watch and learn Miss Summoner!"

He summoned his sword and twirled it deftly in his hand. He charged right into the fray, ignoring Yuna shouting back "We need to have a serious conversation about my name after this!"

Sighing in utter disbelief, she refocused her attention back on the statues heading her way. With eyes filled with determination, she slung her staff slightly over her shoulders, ready for a fight.

As the minutes ticked away, both teens did their best to fight off the statues that kept coming their way. Even after the first dozen fell, the Hive Mind called upon more to fight them.

Eventually, Yuna was pushed back all the way down the stairs until she met up with Tidus. They were back-to-back, facing doen the horde of living rocks that were closing in.

"If I could ask something?" she asked worriedly, "Have you been in this sort of situation before?"

Tidus shrugged, "Eh, more than you know. I've fought tougher foes than these freak shows."

He pointed his blade, "In this case though, quantity may prove to be the deciding factor for our downfall."

The Hive Mind made a gurgling noise, which sounded an awful lot like a sinister chuckle.

Tidus glared at its "face" as if he was too stubborn to admit defeat, but then he started smiling.

"That is... if I didn't have an equalizer."

In a swift move, he pulled out the glass tube he sneakily swiped back. Before anyone could react, he threw it right into the molten liquid. It shattered upon contact and its contents seeped and diluted right into the Hive Mind.

It quickly took effect and the Hive Mind began shrieking out in immense agony. As Tidus and Yuna watched, white lines that looked like cracks snaked all along its "face" as it continued to shake violently. And then seconds later, the statues surrounding them all collapsed into nothing more than a pile of rocks. Stone dead. As they should be.

Putting away his sword, Tidus peered over the dying consciousness, a look of sadness and pity on his face.

"I wished this could've played out more diplomatically," he lamented solemnly, "I'm so sorry."

The Hive Mind hissed defiantly at him as its molecular density slowly became unstable.

"C...os...mos..."

Yuna gaped slightly. That was no roar or hiss. That was a full-blown verbal word! Even Tidus appeared visibly shaken by this. But it was only a brief moment before he turned his back on the Hive Mind.

"Come on! Let's get outta here!" he exclaimed, rushing right over to the STONE.

Yuna gave the molten mass one more glance before she followed after him. Behind her, the Hive Mind's body began to implode violently as its mind finally passed on. And with it went the signal that connected it to every other rock all across Spira.

Within a split seconds, every moving statue, every living rock went limp and died. It came as a shock, even to the entrapped villagers back on Besaid. It happened so suddenly, that everyone did not know what was going on. Eventually Wakka chanced a move over to the closest one and gave its severed head a slight kick. It didn't budge much to his relief.

All over Spira, everyone was taking stock of all the damage caused, as well as attempting to figure out what was happening. Soon after, there was a general consensus that it was a sign that Sin was on the move again, and life quickly went back to normal.

Well... not so normal for everyone. Following their escape, Tidus had fallen silent as he began piloting the STONE again. No words were exchanged during the whole flight. When the crystal ship finally landed, Tidus went over to her, took her by the hand and gently escorted her out.

Outside, she surprised (and somewhat relieved) to see that she was back on Besaid. Specifically, the beach where she and Tidus first both parted ways.

"Here we are," Tidus declared and she looked to him, "Sunny sky and sea breeze blowing in your face." He took in a deep breath. "Yup. Thirty minutes or so from sunset."

Yuna blinked at him, "You can tell that from breathing the air?"

"... Maybe..." he replied back with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, she stared out into the distant horizon. A few minutes went by in uncomfortable silence.

"So... Tidus..." she finally spoke up again, "About what happened today..."

Tidus sighed and rubbed his neck, "If you wanna say "it was life-threatening and I don't ever want to see you again", then again I'm sorry. I never intended to drag you into this. It just... happens..."

Yuna pursed her lips, "I admit, that was a bit of a concern..."

She placed strong emphasis on the W word.

But then she slowly turned to him, "But the truth is... this has been probably one of the best days of my life."

Tidus raised an eyebrow in confusion. "It is? Really?"

Yuna smiled, "For so long, I have always wanted for a chance to prove myself. To prove that I am capable enough to become a Summoner. Like my father Lord Braska. And now, after that encounter with the Hive Mind, I think I'm ready."

She noticed an unreadable expression cross his features slightly, but Tidus brushed it off quickly before she could interpret it.

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I was initially due for my trails in the Temple tomorrow," she explained, "But sporadically the statues there came to life and a heroic stranger comes in to make a big mess."

She smirked playfully, "How do you suppose that happened?"

Tidus chuckled, "Oh I don't know... maybe there was a lone Miss Summoner that needed some help when no one was around."

"I don't doubt it," Yuna agreed with a shrug, "By the way, you don't have to keep referring to me as Miss Summoner. My name is Yuna."

"Oh really? Hmm..." Tidus tilted his head and tapped his chin, as if he was really considering it.

He grinned and shook his head, "Nah, Miss Summoner's sound great!"

Yuna gave him a small pout.

"But if we ever meet again, I... might consider calling you properly."

He started taking small steps back towards the STONE. "And with that, I bid you _adieu_."

Alarmed, Yuna quickly raced in front of him.

"No wait!" she pleaded, "There's so much more I have to ask!"

"Really? Considering the number you threw my way today, I'd say it's quite a feat! Unsurprising though, coming from someone like yourself!" Tidus said with his hands at his hips, "Well... I suppose I could spare some time for one or two more questions. But choose wisely though, cos if I ever run into you again it might be too soon."

Yuna nodded earnestly, happy that she already had her two questions thought out.

"Back at Bevelle, I heard the Hive Mind speak out something. A word."

Tidus' smile faltered slightly.

Noticing this, Yuna felt conflicted if she should continue, but she eventually pressed on.

"Cosmos. It said "Cosmos"," she said hesitantly, "Does that mean anything to you?"

Tidus remained silent for a brief moment, like he was contemplating something.

"It does, actually," he responded bluntly, "But shouldn't be of any concern to you."

Yuna deflated slightly, unhappy about how cryptic he was acting right now. Judging by his shift in tone and how tense his body was getting, she knew that he wanted out of here soon.

Moving onto her next question, she asked, "You're not a Spiran, and you've fought monsters like the Hive Mind before. So... who are you? Really? Aside from being an alien?"

Tidus frowned darkly and he turned and walked closer to the shoreline. Yuna wondered if maybe she had pressed him too far. Halting in his stride a few paces from Yuna, he turned to look back at her, a grave look in his blue eyes.

"Have you ever wondered? About Spira revolving? How it works?" he asked, "It's like when you're a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning, and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. But me? I can feel it."

Walking back over to her side, he then took her by the hand as she looked at him in utter confusion.

"The turn of Spira. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around its star at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour... and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and I, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world and if we let go…"

Tidus trailed off with a faraway look towards the distant horizon, falling silent for a brief moment.

He looked back to her, "That's who I am."

Letting go of her hand, he stated seriously and gravely, "Now forget me. Go home. Make your life worthwhile."

Without another word, he began walking away to the STONE, his paces brisker this time.

From behind him, Yuna continued to watch him, as if she had been enchanted by his words. Even with his back turned to her, the young teen could almost sense an aura of grief and pain surrounding him.

But just before she could contemplate any more decisions, Tidus stepped right into the STONE. As she watched seconds later, the crystal began to spin around anti-clockwise on its axis. It picked up speed and was going so fast that it became a blur to her vision. Gradually, it faded out of sight, practically vanishing into thin air.

And with that, Yuna a felt a small ache in her heart.

She had such an eventful day with that male teen. Saving Spira, encountering an alien consciousness, travelling to distant lands by means she thought was not possible. Perhaps it was truly one of the best days of her life. And now that Tidus was gone, she might never see him again.

Just then however, she heard a distant yet familiar voice call out her name.

Scratch that, make that two voices.

And coupled with the ruffling of leaves close by, it was a clear indication that they were close.

With one more morbid glance to where the STONE had been, Yuna spun on her heels and brisked her way into the jungle terrain.

It took her a few minutes to traverse the thick foliage until she finally reached the source of the voices. And there Lulu and Wakka both spotted her, much to their sharp relief.

"Yuna! There you are!" the former exclaimed as they rushed to her.

It was almost to Yuna's surprise that she founded herself in a tight embrace.

"I feared for the worst when those rock things started terrorising the village, ya?"

Wakka said with a jovial smile, "Thank Yevon you're alright!"

"Oh? Terrorising rocks?" Yuna asked, feigning ignorace and confusion at the same time.

While she already knew that there were other statues on Besaid, she still needed to be apprised of any potential severity of the damages caused.

Lulu nodded, "We'll tell you everything on the way back. For now though, what were you doing when they attacked us?"

Yuna bit her inner lip subtly, "Well, I was back in my hut thinking about the potential location of the thief, but then I noticed him wading through the marshlands close by. I decided to follow him all the way here, but was too late since he took off on his raft quickly."

"Then why didn't you inform us?" Lulu questioned worriedly.

Yuna sighed, "There wouldn't be enough time anyways. And the thief was very swift in his movements. Regardless of whatever manpower we muster, he would still escape us very easily."

Lulu and Wakka exchanged a glance before they sighed out in exhaustion.

"Alright. It's been a long day and we're all drained now. Perhaps we should postpone this conversation until tomorrow?" Lulu proposed as she rubbed her temples, "The situation with the statues must be top priority for now."

Wakka nodded his head, "Sure."

Yuna smiled, "Agreed."

And with that, the trio set off.

* * *

Night fell relatively quickly over the island, and Yuna had taken opportunity of the setting exhaustion amongst the villagers to excuse herself. Now back inside her hut, she had changed out of her Summoner outfit and back into her night robes.

Setting her staff against the side of her bed, she plopped down onto it.

Today had truly been such a life-changing experience. And she was surprised because she had faced down a horde of living statues, and survived! Now that should've a lifetime achievement in and of itself! It was a trial to see if she had what it takes to become a Summoner, and she passed.

What should have herald in the beginning of the end of Spira, turned out to be one of the best days of her life. And it was all thanks to that strange teen Tidus, and his mysterious, magical crystal.

Yuna sighed deeply just thinking about him. There's so much more to Tidus than she had apparently taken him for.

Considering he was an alien, it was an easy guess to say that trouble always finds him wherever he went. Wherever he maybe now. When Yuna looked upwards into the stars earlier, she could not help but wonder what he must be doing now.

Perhaps he was just gallivanting through another world, fighting off foes or saving a populace.

_"Which is what I'll be doing soon too..."_ she thought to herself.

Her Temple trials may have been postponed for now, but did not mean it would be indefinite. The Elders had mentioned that it would take about two to three weeks to clear up the rubble, by which she would commence with the trails.

And then she'll become a Summoner, with her first Aeon. Ready to go out and begin her pilgrimage.

Whether or not she might see Tidus again during her journey, she's unsure, but one thing was for certain, if they do meet again, she was definitely going to ask him a lot more questions about his adventures.

That was, if he ever showed up on Spira again.

Letting out a stifled yawn, Yuna tucked herself underneath her blanket sheets and closed her eyes.

As she drifted off to sleep, she mumbled out under her breath, "Tidus..."

And then she began to dream of the STONE as it soared through the stars in all its gracefulness and majesty.

"... Cosmos..."

* * *

**Alrighty, so for this story, it's basically Doctor Who Revival series 1, but instead the characters are replaced by our heroes in FFX. While some chapters will loosely follow the episodes, others might be taken from other series' in the Revival era. **

**The reason why I decided to go with Tidus in the Ninth Doctor's shoes is primarily because they both start out with rather similar backgrounds. Both individuals have troubled histories weighing down on their shoulders, and both develop to become better people as time goes on throughtout their respective stories.**

**It's hard to tell at this point when the next chapter will come out, but I'm hopeful that it won't take as much time as I did to make this one, as well as not being as long as it is.**


End file.
